My Review: Raising Arizona (7/10)

"Are you boys gonna chase down your leads or are you gonna sit drinkin' coffee in the one house in the state where I know my boy ain't at?"

Raising Arizona, the Coen brothers' sophomore film, is an eccentric screwball comedy that feels cartoonish at times but served as an exercise in form for their upcoming comedies. This perhaps is much lighter in tone and more humane, but some of their common trademarks can be found in this early film of theirs. I don't think it's as cynical as most of their other work, but it does have a similar quirky sense of humor that can be found in all their comedies. Besides being original, it also happens to be very entertaining introducing some wacky and memorable characters. If you are fan of the Coen's work you will see a lot of familiar faces (John Goodman and Frances McDermond in supporting roles), but it was the lead roles from Nicolas Cage and Holly Hunter that truly surprised me. They were great together playing this unconventional family that will be really hard to forget. Hi is one of Nicolas Cage's most memorable characters and his crazy hair was the highlight of his performance. As in most of their films, the stereotypes are captured really well and this time it was the Southwest's turn to play for laughs with their thick accents. The performances in this film were all highly exaggerated giving the film its cartoonish tone. Raising Arizona was a joyful experience despite the fact that I didn't find myself laughing too hard; it's a good film, but not as good as The Big Lebowski. Despite their familiar trademarks, the Coens show so much range in their films going from neo-noir to slapstick comedies. They are a force to reckon with. 

H.I. McDunnough (Nicolas Cage) meets his future wife, Ed (Holly Hunter), in the most uncommon of situations. She is a police officer in Arizona, and he is a criminal who keeps on getting caught for robbing convenience stores. Since he never carries a loaded weapon his stints in prison are short, but he manages to turn his life around once he falls for Ed. They enjoy their first years of marriage and are truly happy together, so much so that Ed convinces Hi to start a family because their blissfulness should be shared. The only problem is that they are unable to conceive a baby and due to Hi's criminal past they can't adopt either. The only solution is to kidnap one so they find their perfect victim: one of the quintuplets of a furniture tycoon, Nathan Arizona (Trey Wilson). They don't think it's fair that the Arizona's got five children, so they convince themselves that they have more they can handle anyway. This event changes their lives forever as friends from Hi's past show up (John Goodman and William Forsythe), as well as his coworkers (Sam McMurray and Frances McDormand), and an evil apocalyptic bounty hunter (Randall Tex Cobb) who haunts his dreams. This baby has changed their lives forever.

The wacky and over the top performances in this film worked really well thanks to some skillful writing from the Coens and some clever one liners. I already mentioned how good the lead performances were, but some of the supporting turns were also quite impressive, the standouts being Frances McDormand and Randall Tex Cobb. Cobb's character reminded me a lot of a cartoonish version of Javier Bardem's turn in No Country for Old Men. There are also some very funny scenes revolving around Trey Wilson and once again the Coens make the victim look really unsympathetic, allowing the audience to root for the wacky outlaws. It's a charming film with some great scenes, one involving a long crazy chase across an Arizona neighborhood. It is a very sharp and clever comedy that also happens to be very entertaining taking us through an adventure that only the Coens could come up with.

My Review: Bringing Out the Dead (5/10)

"Saving someone's life is like falling in love. The best drug in the world. God has passed through you. Why deny it, that for a moment there, God was you?"

Bringing Out the Dead presents a dark and bleak view of New York City as we get to experience it through the main character's depressive perception. Working as an ambulance paramedic, Frank Pierce has always found purpose in his life in saving others, but after not being able to save a young girl and feeling haunted by her ghost he has lost his passion and begins to question his existence. The torment he is experiencing leads him to an identity crisis that impacts the way he (and therefore we the audience) sees the city. Martin Scorsese gets all the technical aspects of the film right, teaming up with his usual collaborators: the cinematography done by Robert Richardson and the editing by Thelma Schoonmaker, but somehow the story doesn't work as well. I understand what he was trying to do, but I just couldn't care for the characters in this film and it all felt a little too surreal for my taste. This is the first film from Scorsese that I've seen that hasn't worked for me, but I do have to give him credit for delivering on the technical aspects. There are also some great moments and some supporting performances that worked really well for me, but it only made me wish the film focused on those characters instead of on Frank. The unique way in which the city was portrayed through Frank's eyes as he's dealing with his personal demons and nightmares really never engaged me because I didn't care for his character. His partners on the other hand were much more engaging and I wish we could've seen it through their eyes instead. 

The screenplay was adapted by Paul Schrader from Joe Connelly's novel of the same name. This was Schrader and Scorsese's fourth and final collaboration together after having worked in Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and The Last Temptation of Christ. Bringing Out the Dead is perhaps most similar to Taxi Driver in tone, but it is a departure from most of his work considering its surreal and nightmarish tone. The film follows Frank Pierce (Nicolas Cage) as he drives across New York City in his ambulance during the night shifts. It's a two man ambulance team although his partners switch every night. Frank is completely burned out considering he hasn't been able to save anyone over the past few weeks and is eagerly awaiting to be fired. His partners don't seem to be experiencing the same problem as they all seem to deal with their demons in different ways. There's Larry (John Goodman) who is constantly thinking about food, Marcus (Ving Rhames) who is a religiously devoted man, and Tom (Tom Sizemore) who borderlines on psychotic behavior. They work for Mercy Hospital, which is always full of wacky characters and very crowded. Frank begins to fraternize with the daughter of one of the patients he brings in, her name is Mary (Patricia Arquette), and she seems to be the only good thing about his job now. Tormented by the ghosts of those he couldn't save, he searches for his salvation through trying to help Mary and saving both of them in the process. 

Despite not enjoying this film as much as I have other Scorsese movies, I have to admit that there were some incredibly entertaining scenes. Ving Rhames has an amazing scene along Nicolas Cage and one of the patients they are trying to save. It was hilarious. He was by far my favorite character in the film. Patricia Arquette was also pretty interesting, and Cliff Curtis also had a couple of great scenes as Cy. Those were the highlights for me in an exhilarating and fast paced film that failed to engage me with the main character played by Cage. Scorsese does manage to capture the chaos and darkness of the city in a very unique way and the technical brilliance of this film stand out above the story. It's a demented film, but it just wasn't my type of movie because the story was emotionally uninvolving. I will give it credit for the hilarious scenes, but I was let down by the lack of an engaging story.

My Review: The Monuments Men (6/10)

"If you destroy their achievements, their history, it's like they never existed."

When I heard George Clooney was going to direct a film about a World War II platoon tasked by Roosevelt to rescue art masterpieces, and that Matt Damon, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett, Jean Dujardin, and John Goodman were all going to co-star with him, I was sure it was going to win all kinds of awards and was highly anticipating it. Then when the film release was changed to February my expectations for it lowered tremendously, so I wasn't expecting much from The Monuments Men by the time I went to see it. This allowed me to actually enjoy the film a bit more despite the fact that it didn't come close to reaching its potential. It's a slow building film based on a true historic and important event, and the film doesn't stop reminding us of this fact considering it keeps on stating its self importance through the main characters. The film felt forced during those scenes where we were constantly reminded why the mission was so important and worth the human sacrifice. Despite failing in its grand ambitions and never quite figuring out the tone of the film, it's still worth seeing for the great cast. There were also several scenes that stood out in this war picture that included some comedy, but overall the film felt incomplete at times missing something. The word disappointment comes to mind considering how much potential The Monuments Men had, but it was still entertaining despite some of the misfires in Clooney's film.

The script was adapted by George Clooney and Grant Heslov from Robert Edsel's book about the world's greatest treasure hunt in history. Frank Stokes (George Clooney) is tasked by President Roosevelt to form a platoon with the mission of going into Germany and rescuing art masterpieces from the Nazis who had stolen them from their owners (mostly Jewish collectors) for Hitler's collection. Frank quickly froms a team of seven guys consisting of museum directors, curators, and art historians with very little experience in war. The Monuments Men, as they called themselves, was conformed by Frank, James Granger (Matt Damon), Richard Campbell (Bill Murray), Walter Garfield (John Goodman), Jean Claude Clermont (Jean Dujardin), Donald Jeffries (Hugh Bonneville), and Preston Savitz (Bob Balaban). Despite their little military experience they began a race against time in order to rescue these valuable art pieces and return them to their owners before Hitler destroyed them all.

There are some fun moments in The Monuments Men thanks in most part to the incredible cast, but one can't help and think about how underused they were. The characters were all very poorly developed and they only served to move along the story. I still can recall several funny scenes that were enough for me personally to watch and recommend this film. It's too bad the movie never manages to deliver the importance of the subject matter despite repeating the message constantly. I don't think it did these men justice for their contribution to humanity, but at least we got to know their story and enjoy a light hearted film about them.

My Review: Inside Llewyn Davis (8/10)

"If it was never new, and it never gets old, then it's a folk song."

The Coen brothers have worked together over the past couple of decades delivering some inspiring work. Their films are extremely varied (ranging from dark comedies to westerns or thrillers) and that is why people rank their films so differently according to their own genre preferences. What these films tend to have in common is that they focus on an unfortunate main character (the Coen brothers don't seem to be too interested in successful characters) and they also include a lot of quirky characters. The Coens are also great at writing interesting characters that despite being unpleasant at times still capture our attention,  and they also include a lot of dark and sharp humor. Inside Llewyn Davis is one of those films where we are forced to follow an unpleasant guy in the course of a week and somehow hope he recovers and achieves his goal. This is a film that you probably enjoy more when you think about it once it's over or on a rewatch because it's philosophical and sad, but rewarding none the less if you stick through it. It is also open to many readings and interpretations. You can think of this as being an honest film about someone who doesn't achieve his dreams. We've been saturated with so many films that focus on following our dreams and never giving up on them, but it is rare to see a film focusing on someone who doesn't achieve them. Like Llewyn, we sometimes throw away other possibilities for success because we are too blinded on pursuing our own thing. That is exactly what happens here (and in this way it differs from A Serious Man where the main character suffers misfortune from things that he can't control). Llewyn could've listened and taken good advice, but he's so narcissistic and blinded by his own ambition that he misses several good opportunities. Another way you can read this film, and this is the one that worked best for me, is that Llewyn is learning to cope with the loss of his partner. He was a better singer when he wasn't on his own and now that he has lost his partner he doesn't seem to know what to do next. He is a tortured artist struggling to cope with grief. It's as if the Coens were admitting that they wouldn't know how to make films without each other. They inspire one another and that is where their success relies. Perhaps if something would happen to one of them they would feel like Llewyn, lost and unable to move on. This is just brilliant filmmaking and the Coens prove once again that they are on top of their game.

The film takes place in the course of one week as we follow a struggling folk singer named Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaacs) across Greenwich Village in the winter of 1961. He has recently released a solo album that isn't selling. With no money and no apartment, Llewyn spends his days jumping from couch to couch at friends houses while performing small gigs at local Cafes. One of the places he crashes in is at fellow musicians, Jim (Justin Timberlake) and Jean's (Carey Mulligan) apartment. Llewyn isn't really a guy anyone wants to be around much, but he continues to pursue his dream of becoming a solo artist. In a way he's his own worst enemy as many of the obstacles he faces are his own doing. 

I'm not a fan of depressing films, but somehow the Coens captured my attention through their smart script and beautifully constructed film. The gray cinematography is gorgeous and really sets the melancholic tone of the film. Somehow despite not liking Llewyn, Isaacs manages to portray his character so well that we do root for him and want him to succeed. It's an impressive film that succeeds thanks to Isaacs heartfelt performance. We also get to meet some of the quirky characters that the Coens always include in their films. John Goodman and Garrett Hedlund were the chosen ones this time around and they both added the dark humor in this otherwise sad and melancholic film. The soundtrack is also a lot of fun to listen too and Isaacs has a great voice.

My Review: The Internship (5/10)

"Can we talk about the on the line thing for a minute?"

Ok lets talk about this "on the line" thing. For a movie full of movie and cultural references one would think that these two characters in their 40's would know something about computers, Harry Potter and X-Men. It's not like these guys are in their 80's, they grew up around computers and should at least know that you don't say "on the line." I get it that this is a comedy and they used some of these situations to create funny moments, but at least they could've been a little less lazy and done something original. I really love Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn together, I think they play off each other really well. Wedding Crashers is one of my all time favorite comedies and I was really looking forward to seeing these guys work together again. But I wasn't expecting them to repeat basically the same formula they used before. It just felt way too similar without being nearly as funny, but I still have to admit that I enjoyed this at some level simply because I am a fan of these two comedians. The script was real lazy and dull, while the secondary characters weren't funny at all. Not even Will Ferrell's cameo worked here like it has done in so many other movies. The love story between Owen Wilson's character and Rose Byrne's was also one of the weakest I've seen in a comedy. And the villain played by Max Minghella was completely one dimensional. The Internship fails at every level as a comedy and only fans of Wilson and Vaughn will have an enjoyable time here. They made this film bearable for me despite the cliches and predictable cheesy ending. I would recommend you to watch Wedding Crashers for the hundredth time before seeing this film.

Billy (Vince Vaughn) and Nick (Owen Wilson) have worked together as salesmen for most of their lives and they are pretty great at what they do, the only problem is that with the digital era at its peak their services are becoming obsolete. Their boss (John Goodman) decides to retire and move to Miami, so Billy and Nick find themselves unemployed in their mid 40's with no idea of what to do next. Billy comes up with the bright idea of trying to get a job at Google, but before they can do that they have to begin as interns and fight for a job opportunity along with hundreds of younger and talented college nerds. The manager in charge of the intern program, Mr. Chetty (Aasif Mandvi), decides to divide the interns into groups and have them compete against each other in several challenges. The winning group will be hired. Billy and Nick are teamed up with the outcasts Lyle (Josh Brener), Stuart (Dylan O'Brien), Neha (Tiya Sircar), and Yo-Yo Santos (Tobit Raphael) and against all odds they will have to compete against other tech-savvy geniuses: their biggest rivals being Graham's (Max Minghella) group.

I was surprised to see how formulaic this comedy was. It played out kind of in the same way that Monsters University did. It's as if this were the live versions of those animated characters. Shawn Levy has always had a sort of similar approach as a director in all his movies (Date Night, Night at the Museum, and Real Steel). The script was written by Vince Vaughn himself and you can tell how he took similar elements from some of his previous comedies. The entire film feels at times like a commercial for Google, and there are really a few laughs for a two hour comedy. There is some trouble with the overall pacing of the film which makes the story drag at times. The only good thing about The Internship is getting to see Vaughn and Wilson back together again being charming and interplaying with one another.

My Review: Monsters University (6/10)

"You don't study scaring, you just do it."

I wasn't a huge fan of the original animated film, but I still enjoyed it enough to want to go check out this prequel, Monsters University. I have to admit that Pixar rarely makes a bad film (with the exception of Cars 2) so obviously expectations are always really high for these kind of films. I wasn't blown away by their latest effort, Brave, and I kind of felt the same way about Monsters University. It was a charming film with some funny moments and some heart, but it wasn't up to par with Pixar's greatest films. It had a pretty simple message for kids: fight for your dreams and even if you don't accomplish them you will still find what you are good at along the way and everything will work out. Billy Crystal and John Goodman do some great voice work once again here for their memorable characters, Sullivan and Mike. The animation was also excellent, and Pixar is probably the best at this department with some great art work. I had a fun time at the theaters, but wasn't blown away this time and felt a bit disappointed. It was very formulaic and the character development was pretty weak for a Pixar film, but I still laughed during several scenes so I still have to give this film a passing grade.

The story works as a sequel as it focuses on Mike's (Billy Crystal) early years. In a school visit to Monsters Inc. Mike discovers he wants to become a scarer and so the film jumps in time to when he enrolls at Monsters University and begins to major as a scarer. Here he meets Sully (John Goodman) who he really dislikes. They seem to always be competing with each other until a series of unfortunate events makes the pair team up with each other to overcome their odds. Mike and Sully cause a disturbance and Dean Hardscrabble (Helen Mirren) expels them from the program. This forces Mike and Sully to team together for the school's scare games once the Dean acknowledges the possibility of them reentering the program if they win. The problem is that they have some fierce competition and they have to team up with the sorority group of Oozma Kappa, a bunch of outcasts who have no experience at being scarers. Thus the film turns into a classic underdog competition (Revenge of the nerds style). Randy (Steve Buscemi) is also in this prequel, who surprisingly was Mike's friendly roommate. Something happens during the film which will make him turn into the classic villain we saw in Monster Inc.

The film is pretty formulaic, but I found it entertaining to see how the friendship between Mike and Sully began after being suche fierce rivals. I also was surprised to discover Randy wasn't your typical villain, he was friendly once and something happens to him that causes him to change his behavior. Overall this is probably one of Pixar's weakest efforts, but it is still a charming fun film and one kids will enjoy. These are all likable characters and the only person who he really miss from Monsters Inc. is the lovable Boo. Despite not being a great film, I still would recommend it for kids, and I think adults will have a lot of fun if they don't go see it with high expectations.

My Review: The Hangover Part III (7/10)

"I told myself, I would never come back."

I had read so many bad reviews about this third installment of The Hangover that I kept putting off this movie until I finally decided to watch it last night and was glad I did. The second film was a lazy copy of the first (which I had loved), but I was let down by that sequel and wasn't expecting much from this. I guess that my lowered expectations helped me enjoy this film a lot more because I had a great time at the movies and laughed during several scenes what I hadn't laughed in any other comedy I'd seen this year (Identity Thief, The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, He's Way More Famous Than You, The Guilt Trip, and This is 40). The Hangover Part III is a lot funnier than any of those movies were, and it is better than the first sequel; just don't expect it to be like the original. I'm glad Todd Phillips decided to take an entirely different direction here and incorporate some action. I didn't find this movie dark like a lot of people are saying it was and I didn't think it was serious either. I laughed several times and enjoyed the new characters. I think the film could have used a little less of Ken Jeong and not have made Zach Gallifianakis's character as mean as he was here, but overall I still think this film worked. Todd Phillips has had several hit and misses in his career as a director, and I would say The Hangover Part III kind of stands in the middle. It helped me that I went with such low expectations for this film and left the theater entertained.

The wolfpack is back together again for a third time, although this time no one is getting married and there is no bachelor party. Doug (Justin Bartha) convinces Phil (Bradley Cooper) and Stu (Ed Helms) to help him take Alan (Zach Galifinakis) to a mental institution after he has decided to stop taking his medication. Alan has been having a bit of anger issues, and so the wolfpack decide to get together again to drive Alan to an institution, but on their way they are assaulted by Black Doug (Mike Epps) and his boss Marshall (John Goodman). They kidnapp Doug and are forced to find Mr. Chow (Ken Jeong). If they don't find him in less than 72 hours then Doug will be dead. Apparently Mr. Chow has stolen from Marshall a large amount of gold, and he wants it back. This is where the madness begins, and the three friends are forced to locate Mr. Chow and bring him back in exchange for Doug.

I really enjoyed John Goodman's performance here although he didn't get much screen time. He was really good in his role as Marshall and set the tone of the film. There is a lot more action and thrills in this third installment. Another new secondary character in this film is Cassie (Melissa McCarthy), although she's barely five minutes in this movie. I thought she was funny, but I don't agree that her scenes were the highlight of the film. I'm not in love with her as most critics are, and have only enjoyed her role in Bridesmaids. Maybe Identity Thief is still to fresh on my mind and it doesn't allow me to enjoy her more. The Hangover Part III is a worthy sequel and I think a great place to end the trilogy. None of these films will be as fresh as the original however.

My Review: Flight (9/10)

¨Nobody could've landed that plane like I did.¨

I don’t think Denzel Washington has ever made a bad film; he has created some wonderful and memorable characters and always makes every film he´s in much better than it otherwise would´ve been. Flight would have been an average film, but thanks to Washington´s performance it is one of the best films of 2012. This is Robert Zemeckis´s first live action film since Cast Away after having worked on three animated 3D motion capture films (Polar Express, Beowulf, and A Christmas Carol) and he´s back with a bang. I hope Zemeckis continues to work with live action films because this is what he´s really good at. He has made a number of successful films such as Back to the Future, Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Forrest Gump. Despite being one of the best directors in the special effects department, he also knows how to make great dramas and stories that ring true. In Flight Zemeckis manages to mix special effects in the plane sequences with some great storytelling delivering a serious and emotional drama about a flawed hero. Zemeckis found the perfect man for his film in Denzel Washington who delivers each line with sincere and humane belief. Even his facial expressions showed so much about his character. This made the job so much easier for screenwriter John Gatins who didn’t have to shove every line of dialogue down the viewers’ throats because Washington´s performance made it easy for us to identify with him and his struggles. This performance has already earned a well deserved Golden Globe nomination for Washington and he simply continues to amaze me with his work.

I will be careful while I try to explain the plot because the film isn’t actually what you expect it to be about. I went into this film thinking it would be exclusively an action thriller where you had Denzel Washington playing the pilot who´s trying to save the day. The truth of the matter is that the thriller only takes place in the first few minutes; the rest of the film focuses on the drama that Captain Whip Whitaker (Denzel Washington) faces once he survives the plane crash and deals with some problems of his own. This is more of a drama than an action thriller but it works really well thanks to Washington´s portrayal of Whip. He turns out to be a flawed hero because despite saving about a hundred lives, he´s an alcoholic. Despite the fact that no pilot would have been able to land the plane and save the passengers, fault has to be found for the incident and the few lives that were lost. Despite his heroic actions, Whip flew the plane under the influence of alcohol and drugs. This is where Hugh Lang (Don Cheadle) comes in as Whip´s attorney who represents the Pilot´s Association and wants to put the blame where it belongs: in the technical malfunction department. Whip also meets a recovering alcoholic in the hospital named Nicole (Kelly Reilly) with whom a love story ensues. John Goodman also has a supporting role as Harling Mays, a friend of Whip who´s always getting him the drugs he needs. And so the story has been set for the drama to take place.

When I say that Flight doesn´t turn out to be an action thriller and ends up being more of a drama about a hero struggling over his own addictions, I say it in a good way because it makes the film stand out above the rest of films in its genre. It is a film that is difficult to categorize because it goes to some unexpected places and instead of being a movie about a flight incident it really is a film revolving around a character who we sympathize with despite knowing he has some severe addictions and issues he has to face. It kind of deals with alcoholism in the same way that Crazy Heart did with Jeff Bridges´ character. I have to say that John Goodman´s performance was also really strong. Despite sharing very few scenes with Denzel he did manage to stay at the same level and delivered some of the few comic relief moments of an otherwise pretty dramatic and serious film. Flight is one of the top ten films of 2012 and Washington delivers his best performance since Training Day. This is a film you will want to see because Zemeckis knows what he´s doing and he´s at the top of his game. I hope he sticks with live action films and continues to work with Denzel because the two together are golden.

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My Review: Trouble with the Curve (8/10)

¨Anybody who uses computers doesn't know a damn thing about this game.¨

Trouble with the Curve is this year`s response to Moneyball claiming that the experience of scouts can`t be replaced by a bunch of computer programs and numbers. It is kind of the opposite of what happened in last year`s movie starring Brad Pitt, but in my opinion both films worked really well. I believe that a balance must be found in both systems and that there is no right or wrong way to approach this. Moneyball explored the baseball concepts a little deeper; Trouble with the Curve on the other hand focuses more on the father and daughter relationship. I am not a big baseball fan, but I enjoyed these movies quite a bit because they had a lot of heart. This film might be predictable, but it`s hard not to fall for the sentimentality it brings along and the broken relationships it tries to restore. This is Robert Lorenz`s first film as a director, but he has had a lot of experience working with Clint Eastwood as his assistant in most of his movies. Lorenz uses some of the same techniques and trademarks of Eastwood in this film so it is kind of like if you were watching one of his movies. The screenplay was written by Randy Brown, and the film stars Clint Eastwood (it has been a long time since he has acted in a movie that he didn’t direct). Eastwood`s last film as an actor was Gran Torino, and he has a sort of similar role in this movie playing his usual old grumpy self again. Trouble with the Curve is a good film, but not as great as some other Eastwood films (Gran Torino and Million Dollar Baby).

Gus (Clint Eastwood) is a baseball scout for the Atlanta Braves. He has had a long and successful career with the club, but some of the managers think he`s getting too old and his contract is about to expire in three months. Phillip (Matthew Lillard) one of the General Manager`s assistant is a firm believer in the numbers that his computer program gives him, but the other assistant, Pete (John Goodman), is a friend of Gus`s and defends him. Gus has a talent for scouting good players; the problem he´s facing now is that his eyes are failing him. Despite the problem, he tries to hide it from everybody and continue to go on as if nothing is wrong. His wife passed away years ago and he had to raise his daughter Mickey on his own. Mickey (Amy Adams) is now in her 30`s and is becoming a successful lawyer, but her relationship with her father has always been distant. Pete figures out that something is wrong with Gus and asks Mickey to accompany her father on what could be his last scouting assignment to North Carolina. Gus has to scout a promising player there named Bo (Joe Massingill) in case the Red Sox, who have the first round pick, pass on him. The scout from the Red Sox happens to be Johnny (Justin Timberlake), a former player who was scouted by Gus himself. Johnny ends up falling for Mickey during their stay in North Carolina, although there are several other issues she wants to resolve with her father first.

The performances in this film didn’t blow my mind, but the story does have a lot of heart. It`s hard not to fall for the characters in this story and despite the fact that the film is very predictable and formulaic it was still a very satisfying experience for me. Amy Adams and Clint Eastwood shared some touching scenes together. Eastwood seems to always explore this father-daughter distant relationship in most of his movies. You don’t need to be a baseball fan to enjoy this movie because it deals more with these relationships than with the game itself. Justin Timberlake and Amy Adams share some scenes together as well adding a little romance to the story. Trouble with the Curve has a little bit of everything: sports, romance, and drama so it is one of those rare films that the entire family will enjoy.

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My Review: Argo (9/10)

¨If I'm going to make a fake movie, it's going to be a fake hit. ¨

This is Ben Affleck`s third film as a director and he`s made yet another brilliant film. Not everyone may agree that he`s a good actor, but I think we can all agree that he`s one of the top directors of this century. His first film Gone Baby Gone was a huge success, and he followed that with an even greater hit: The Town. Both these films were set in Boston (Affleck`s home town), but now Ben went out of his comfort zone and directed a film set in Iran in the late 70`s. The general look of the film felt so real and authentic; it was as if Affleck transported us into the past and we were really there. The film has an authentic 70`s vibe that reminds us of other great films from that period. I had my doubts about Argo considering the subject matter. I didn’t think it would keep my attention for long, but I was wrong because Affleck was able to create so much tension and suspense that I was at the edge of my seat during most of the film. He also mixed that tension with some humor and movie industry satire. Arkin played a movie producer and Goodman an Oscar winning makeup artist; the scenes between both these actors were hilarious and they were on top of their game. Those scenes were probably among my favorite of the movie, I don’t know if I would`ve enjoyed the movie as much as I did if it weren’t for those two supporting actors. I still think Gone Baby Gone and The Town were both better films than Argo, but this will surely have more success with the Academy voters. Argo will be nominated for Best Picture and could be one of the favorites to win the Oscar.

The film is based on true events that occurred during 1979 while tension arose between the United States and Iran when Iranian revolutionaries invaded the American embassy in Iran and took several American hostages. Six American employees managed to secretly escape during the turmoil and found refugee in the residence of the Canadian Ambassador. The CIA then plans a secret mission to try to take them out of the country before the Iranians realize that six of the employees from the Embassy are missing. Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck), a CIA exfiltration expert, comes up with a risky plan to bring them back home safely. He creates a fake Canadian film project and travels to Iran with the excuse that he is looking for locations to shoot his sci-fi film titled Argo claiming that Iran is the perfect spot. In order to make his plan believable the CIA begins to collaborate with some trusted Hollywood people: Lester Siegel (Alan Arkin), a film producer, and John Chambers (John Goodman), a make-up artist. Together they prepare to produce the best fake movie Hollywood has ever made and has everyone in the industry fall for the lie. Meanwhile at the residence of Canadian Ambassador, Ken Taylor (Victor Garber), tension is beginning to rise as the revolutionaries are beginning to suspect that there might be some Americans hiding there. These Americans are Bob (Tate Donovan), Cora (Clea DuVall), Joe (Scoot McNairy), Lee (Rory Cochrane), Mark (Christopher Denham), and Kathy (Kerry Bishe). Tony Mendez provides them with Canadian passports and a fake identity and has them each passing for crew members of the film he`s producing. Bryan Cranston plays Affleck`s supervisor in the CIA who gives him the green light for the highly risky mission.

Saying that Argo is based on a true story doesn’t mean that everything that happened in this film was real. Of course you have several things that were made up in order to build up the tension. This isn’t a documentary and if you want to read about the real story there is plenty of information about what happened in Iran. The film is based on the article written by Joshua Bearman and the screenplay adapted by Chris Terrio. People familiar with the story already know the outcome, but Affleck is able to maintain the suspense and tension nonetheless. His real success here was the way in which he was able to recreate several scenes in such a believable fashion. The amount of attention he put into small technical details can be seen during the end credits where we have pictures of the real events along with the scenes from the film. Affleck also took a huge risk by mixing movie industry satire with suspense and tension, but it paid off really well and was the highlight of the film in my opinion. Argo is a truly satisfying film and without a doubt one of the best films of the year thanks to the technical aspects of the film, a strong performance from the cast, and the thrilling storytelling all supported by the great direction of Ben Affleck.  

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My Review: The Artist (9/10)

¨Look at what you've become. You've become proud! You've become stupid! ¨

The Artist is a beautiful film that pays homage to movies from the late 20`s and early 30`s, the silent film era. In order to do so, French director Michel Hazanavicius decided to make this film almost entirely without sound and in black and white. Many producers would`ve probably thought he was crazy for trying to make a film like this in these days where viewers are used to seeing spectacular and colorful movies with great sound and even in 3D. However, The Artist works perfectly and is one of the brightest films of the year despite being in black and white. The cinematography is spectacular (perhaps only rivaled this year by The Tree of Life and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), the costume design and editing are among the best of the year, and the score is also amazing. This is truly a beautiful film that many film historians will enjoy for the nice tribute it renders to the age of silent films. Many famous actors during this era weren’t able to make the transition to the talkies, and that is exactly what The Artist is about, and it does it in a very simplistic but stylized fashion. The film has been nominated for 10 Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Performance by a Lead Actor (Jean Dujardin) and a Supporting Actress (Berenice Bejo). It will probably walk away with the Best Picture title considering how appealing the subject matter is to the Academy, and how well the film was crafted. Please don’t be scared off because the movie is silent or in black and white because the story is really entertaining and despite being colorless it is brighter than any other film released this year. It is really worth a watch; you won`t regret it.

The year is 1927 and George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) is at the height of his artistic career. He is a very successful Hollywood actor and producer Al Zimmer (John Goodman) is very pleased with his work. After having succeeded together yet again in a recent film, they are already collaborating for their next project. During rehearsals for their next movie, George runs into an extra named Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo). They hit it off instantly sharing a dance number and George insists that Peppy should get the part. Pepper falls in love immediately with George, but he is married to Doris (Penelope Ann Miller) so their relationship is entirely professional. George gives Peppy the best advice she would ever receive: In order to make it in the industry she needs to be different and he paints a spot near her lip. This will be her trademark later on as she slowly begins rising to the spotlight during the arrival of the talkies. Valentin however, isn’t lucky and realizes his days as a successful actor are coming to an end with the advent of these talking pictures. People want to see new faces and hear their voices. Al Zimmer realizes this and breaks relations with George, so Valentin decides to produce, direct, and star in his own silent film. The movie is a failure as people want to see these new talkies, and as Valentin`s fame becomes to decline, Peppy Miller begins to grow into a superstar. Valentin is left with nothing except his faithful driver, Clifton (James Cromwell) and his Jack Russell Terrier named Jack. The times have changed for the great artists and fortunes are reversed.

The Artist is among my top ten favorite films of the year and it works really well, not only as homage to these silent films, but as a love story as well. Along with Midnight in Paris, these are perhaps the two best romantic movies of the year and would make for an excellent date. I`ve already mentioned some of the technical aspects, but now I would like to praise the performances from Jean Dujardin, Berenice Bejo, and the dog (which was played in most part by Uggie). I can`t leave out the dog, because he plays an important role in this film, and in a way is Valentin`s faithful companion and savior. Jean Dujardin does deserve the Oscar nomination for his performance, he was terrific, and I think I enjoyed it over George Clooney`s. If he wins, it will be well deserved. My favorite performance of the film however, comes from Berenice Bejo, who was also nominated as a supporting actress. She is just terrific and shines every time she`s on screen. Her performance gives this black and white movie a lot of color. Both Bejo and Dujardin have worked together with director Hazanavicius in the past in the French spy spoof film OSS 117. I`ve never seen the movie, nor its sequel, but after seeing The Artist I`m very much interested in doing so. Overall this is a terrific film and one you won`t want to miss.

     

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